Punters post-race: Saturday racing in review

Zamex came with a withering turn of foot to score at RosehillImage: Bradley Photos

A breathtaking win in Sydney, a 6.8L romp in the Ipswich Cup and a genuine howler from one of Victoria's best at Moonee Valley - here is our review of Saturday racing.

Star Performer

Zamex (Rosehill Race 3)Wowee, this gelding has a pretty special turn of foot! Trainer Matt Dunn continued his incredible association with Highway Handicaps but few of his victories would have been as exhilarating as this. A mile out of his ground rounding the home bend, this three-year-old son of Cheval de Troy gobbled up his rivals in the style of a very, very good horse.

Two starts back Zamex ran into the very smart Niccanova (subsequent G3 Fred Best winner) at the Gold Coast, so the formline was there for all to see. Despite that glaring form reference, the gelding was still a pronounced late drifter on track ($2.40 out to $2.80).

Zamex will be aimed at the G3 Sunshine Coast Guineas on July 1 should he pull-up from today in good order.

Front Bar Fodder

IPSWICH

Punters' sixth SenseWhen punters 'know', they REALLY know. Self Sense hadn't won a race for 845 days yet was absolutely truckloaded from $9.00 (early markets) into $3.40F in the feature Ipswich Cup. Themoney - which carried with it a degree of optimism, given recent history - couldn't have been any more spot on, with David Brideoake's charge donkey-licking his opposition to stroll home by a widening 6.8L.

The soft track was the key for this bloke today, with his previous effort (a 10.2L 13th in the G2 Brisbane Cup) largely explained away by the Good 4 surface. Self Sense heads to the Caloundra Cup (2400m) at Sunny Coast in a fortnight, and will be the horse to beat with any cut in the ground.

Hastily applied make-up The other Ipswich feature in the Listed Eye Liner was a messy affair, with half the field going via the cape around the home turn after tearaway leader Flamboyer had them off the bit and chasing a long way out. Whilst some squarely missed the boat (Jeff Lloyd and Acatour, we're looking in your direction 👀), apprentice Tiffani Brooker and Monsieur Gustave ($21 into $17) surged again late after sitting second throughout to just prevail over the fast-finishing In His Stride ($18). It was good to see this son of Al Maher land a Listed win after bursting onto the scene with a winning hat-trick last August, the first of which was a much talked-about 9.3L demolition job at Sunny Coast.

Brooker only picked-up the ride on race morning, having been contacted at the eleventh hour by trainer Darryl Hansen. Hansen himself missed the win, apparently instead choosing to saddle up one at Kilcoy. 😂

Vets fight out Godolphin quinellaTerrific to see a pair of the Queensland jockey ranks' must trusted old warhorses in Jeff Lloyd (Maternal) and Damian Browne (Kinshachi) fight out the finish of the Listed Gai Waterhouse Classic (1350m) for Godolphin. Lloyd eventually got the $2.90F home by 0.2L, putting something of a silver lining on what was an otherwise forgettable day in the saddle for the state's premier hoop.

One of the best-bred mares in the country, Maternal (Street Cry x Divine Madonna) shored-up her future in the breeding barn by securing black type, a feat the Listed-winning runner-up had already achieved.

Peanuts fight out Cup lead-upRumours of some fisticuffs in the Ipswich in-field prior to the running of the Ipswich Cup...

Drama at Ipswich - Cup could be delayed after a fight between patrons in infield, ambulances called

On top of this apparent stupidity, we AGAIN had a Queensland meeting where senior riders felt compelled to point out that the music emanating from various sections of the track was having an adverse effect on the equine athletes patrons had supposedly paid money to watch race. Let's get this sorted before something bad happens.

IT'S LIKE A DANCE PARTY - NOT A RACETRACK .. that's what Corey Brown just told me about the doof-doof music blasting out of Ipswich in-field

Piping hot CurrieAlong with Toby Edmonds, Ben Currie has this season emphatically announced himself as one of Queensland's brightest training prospects. Currie has proven to be very much a punter's pal, with regular Saturday night Toowoomba fill-ups complemented by some outstanding metro results (often at very healthy prices). Today was no different, with $26-chance With A Promise lumping 57kg to a comfortable victory in the 1100m 3YO Hcp. This filly is now six from 13, having taken out the Listed Silk Stocking (1200m) when a despised $81-outsider back on May 6.

Certainly worth giving Brad a follow if you dare to dabble in the Twittersphere!

MOONEE VALLEY

Follow the leader With the rail coming out 3m, most expected the Moonee Valley track to favour those up on the speed and that’s exactly how it panned out. The quinella in the opener paid an extraordinary $484 (Vic tote) with the first two out of the stalls – Pure Emotion and Magic Mila – fighting it out. Pure Emotion sat outside of the despised outsider ($151) and packed the superior punch at the business end, with the more-fancied Josephine Sea ($3.80) running into 3rd. Early favourite Behave put nothing into her finish after covering additional ground.

It was a similar story in the third race (1000m dash) with Essence of Terror settling on the leader’s back before getting a saloon passage to score. The speedy but one-dimensional Miss Vista wasn’t able to get across to lead from her wide gate and finished a disappointing 5th, beaten 1.6L (although plenty were potting Craig Williams’ ride post-race).

How do they ride Miss Vista not to lead. It can't pass horses. Lead at all costs. Unbelievable

The on-pace pattern continued in the fourth, with the Weir-trained Stylish Miss ($31) kicking back hard on the fence to hold off Mamzelle Tess ($8.50) by a head. Those occupying the first three spots passing the 400m finished 1st, 2nd and 3rd (Have Another Glass) with nothing really coming from the back. The favourite Soho Ruby raced handy enough to the speed but was a beaten horse before the straight.

Crafty Brunton gets the chocolates“He hasn’t settled in since coming across from Tassie, from a betting point of view he’s a risk.”

Those were the words of Tasmanian trainer Scott Brunton who saddled up the flying Lord da Vinci for race five at Moonee Valley. Punters clearly listened to Brunton putting ‘the slows’ on his charge because the Lord was a noted drifter, jumping at $5 after $3 was offered on Saturday morning. The ultra-consistent gelding defied the betting move to salute in comfortable fashion after sitting outside of the leader (the place to be). Once again the placings were filled by runners who sat in the first four in-running.

Race six was basically a replay of the fifth, with Revolving Door sitting outside of the leader before gaining the ascendency late. Mark Zahra worked across early from barrier 11, doing the right thing by punters who backed the McDonald gelding from $8 into $6.50.

How does he do it?Black Tomahawk’s last win before today was in September 2015 and his form this preparation read: 8th of 12, 12th of 14, and 8th of 14. He drew the outside gate for race seven (2040m) and jumped at $85 on Betfair. Basically the only box he ticked was the fact he’s trained by the all-conquering Darren Weir. To the dismay of most punters (including yours truly) Black Tomahawk defied his form, price and the track pattern (he came from last) to knock off the heavily-backed Megablast who looked home for all money. Not sure how Weir does it but there’s no doubt he’s next level.

Seriously, Black Tomahawk… how?

The ‘Quaddie Killer’ strikes againTo be honest we were already dead and buried following Black Tomahawk’s win but the diabolical Petrology was up to his old tricks again, saluting at $26 to remind us all that he can still strike a killer blow. His last win, over 12 months ago, came at $15 and his previous victory before that (in November 2014) was at $14. He’s a cheeky bugger (said with a fake smile that hides years of quaddie torment).

Black Tomahawk into Petrology is the ultimate taking the piss running double. #Bless

Stockdales combine for Valley win"It's his first winner in town and mum owns this one so it's really good," said Brandon Stockdale after Unique Lovely's win in race two at Moonee Valley. Full story here

ROSEHILL

A Baker's trebleBjorn Baker took the training spoils at Rosehill, with tough filly Test The World ($2.60), resuming sprinter Sir Plush ($4.80) and recent stable acquisition Collateral ($6.50) all getting the money. Pins gelding Sir Plush was perhaps the most impressive of the trio, handling his first look at a heavy track with aplomb to cruise home by 2.8L over 1100m for Jason Collett. This gelding is very much on an upward spiral and I think he can measure up to much better grade.

Collateral thwarted a concerted push for Waller import Carzoff ($2.00F) by a half-length, with the French galloper clearly one of best-backed runners around the country both during the week and today.

The master and the apprenticeWe've got plenty of time for 3kg claimer Jack Martin but he was taken to school by Hughie Bowman in the TAB Rewards Hcp (1500m). Bowman gave Liapari ($6.00) an A-grade steer stalking Martin and $2.35F Moss 'n' Dale, with Martin appearing to notice the rampaging duo on his inside only when it was too late. Martin notched up a Randwick city win on Moss 'n' Dale back in April, so hopefully he can bounce back on the big stage for Team Gelagotis in future.

AROUND THE GROUNDS

Eclair Sunshine overcomes trouble to scoreArguably the win of the day in South Australia came in the first race at Morphettville, with the Stokes-trained Eclair Sunshine storming home from last. Neilson drifted back from the outside gate in the 1050m dash and was spotting the leaders 7-8L approaching the final bend. The 2YO gelding ran up behind a wall of runners before barging through a needle-eye opening about four-off the fence at the 250m. Once into the clear, Eclair Sunshine cruised home to win in comfortable fashion. Stewards took a dim view of Neilson's aggression to get his mount into space, finding him guilty of careless riding and outing him for four meetings.

Eclair Sunshine (last, one-off the fence) had a wall of runners in front of him at the top of the straight.

Congratulations Linda MeechVictorian hoop Linda Meech became the first female jockey to ride 112 winners in an Australian racing season when she guided the Mick Price-trained Hume to victory in the opener at Wodonga. It's a genuine head-scratcher that Meech doesn't get more opportunities in town... but it's certainly good for country/provincial punters.

Bookies land a double-blow early

It was a grim start to the day for punters who took the Inquiry (Newcastle R1) into Scarecrow (Wodonga R1) double. Both horses were heavily-backed, with Inquiry jumping at $1.50 after opening at $2.10, while first-starter Scarecrow started $1.40 after $2.80 was bet early (some deductions there). The former sat four-wide the trip and finished out of the placings which unfortunately was a sign of things to come for the boys in blue at Newcastle…

Slim pickings for Godolphin at NewcastleThings didn’t improve for the Godolphin team following Inquiry’s forgettable performance in the opener, with Sepoy filly Birdsong ($1.50) going under in race two. The Penza/Godolphin combination also tasted defeat in the fourth, with debutante Denials missing a drum.

Another Godolphin hot-pot rolled at Newcastle. Birdsong is clearly a water-dwelling bird. #sea

Get in the Sea

The Punting GodsHow could you allow notorious sea-dwellers Black Tomahawk and Petrology to win on the same day? We maybe could have handled one of them saluting but to serve up the villainous running double was just plain evil. Credit to Petrology though, he did an incredible job to win from 50 feet below sea level.

Working through today's review it has become clear that the last three races at Moonee Valley were sent directly from the depths of hell 👿

Miss VistaControversial yes but she’s now been rolled at $2.50, $4.40 and $3.30 at her last three starts – horses have been put in the sea for less. If she’s not in front after 100m you can pretty much tear up your ticket.

Punters Pearler

Hugh Bowman on Liapari (Rosehill R5) 👌🍏🍏

Hughie charges through along the rails with a full head of steam up. Image: Bradley Photos

Saturday Slaughter

Several candidates this week so we decided to leave it to our esteemed Twitter followers, with gun hoop Beau Mertens falling foul of the barbarian horde after his sticky steer on Leodoro in the last at the Valley.

Trainer is within his rights to say what he wants (Scott Brunton). If he thought it had not settled in so be it. Bottom line if you know the horse it raced here originally and had a first up record of 6 starts for 3-3-0 and if they are running it you can only assume it was ok. People who do limited form, slavishly follow jockey or trainer comments deserve whatever they get. $3 in the morning became $5 at race time so thanks.

Reldas simply couldn't win. Callow had 2 options - go back to last and have to make up 8 lengths on the Taamanian (never going to happen) or chance his arm and sit wide and hope to be within striking distance.